PLEASE HELP me to understand the way Audio works with VLC

[for2zero]

Hello. I am having troubles figuring out which video files will actually play in 5.1 audio and which won't. I can have 2 different files, both support 5.1, but when I play them separately in VLC, one video may have the option to play in 5.1 while the other will only show me the option to play in stereo.

WHAT IS THE STANDARD HERE?! HOW DO I KNOW!??!?!?

I have a file right now I'm trying to play > it says 5.1 right in the title > I go into the audio to try to select 5.1 > under audio channels I can see "Dolby Surround" but under audio device it only shows stereo and mono

What am I missing here? How does this program decode audio? How do I know I'm getting a proper 5.1 signal? This is beyond frustrating and horribly designed. I have loved everything about VLC up until trying to get proper surround audio out of it.

Is there some kind of guide/faq/wiki/SOMETHING!??! DO I SERIOUSLY NEED AN ENGINEERING DEGREE TO FIGURE OUT IF A FILE WILL GIVE ME PROPER SURROUND!? I mean PROPER surround, not stereo surround playing through 5 speakers.


Edit: While trying to figure it out for myself, I noticed when I have my surround turned OFF and I'm only using the tv speakers SOME (not all - as in NO standard) files will give me the option to play 5.1 - WITH MY SURROUND TURNED OFF - but when I turn the surround back on and re-open the file, the option for 5.1 is gone. WTF IS THIS!?!?!?

Is the audio decoding in this program just bugged?